1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in harness line apparatus used with sailboards and other wind propelled vehicles. In particular, this invention describes harness line apparatus which are easier to use and more reliable, exacting and versatile than apparatus currently available.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Wind propelled vehicles having surfboard hulls, pivotal masts, and wishbone booms, commonly known as sailboards or windsurf boards, require that the sailor counterbalance the force of the wind on the sail using body weight and muscular effort. Operators of related types of wind propelled vehicles must do similarly. The energy and strength required to sustain operation of these wind propelled vehicles, particularly in moderate or heavy wind conditions, is considerable. Consequently devices designed to minimize the effort, strength and endurance required to sustain operation of such vehicles have been introduced and are now in common use. These devices usually take the form of a harness with hook, worn by the operator, which detachably engages flexible harness lines secured to either side of the wishbone boom. A variety of harnesses and harness lines are now commercially available.
Existing harness apparatus improves substantially the ability of a sailor to sustain operation of the wind propelled vehicles in moderate and heavy wind conditions, but they are not themselves without limitations. Because the sailor's hands are continuously occupied manipulating the boom, the sailor must engage the harness line with hook by moving his body and the boom relative to one another. With existing apparatus the disengaged harness line hangs limply downward and may flap freely or even wrap around the boom during maneuvers, making engagement difficult. Disengagement, which also must be performed without the assistance of hands, is similarly problematic using the presently available apparatus. Silfversparre, U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,567, discloses substantially rigid harness lines which the sailor engages by pivoting the lines around the boom using his thumbs. Though rigid, the lines are free to swing and require the sailors thumbs to be in close proximity to the point where the line attaches the boom. A primary object of this invention is to provide stiff resilient harness lines held firmly in a position which greatly facilitates the engagement and disengagement of the harness hook with the harness line without the use of hands and with minimal movement of the body.
Wind propelled vehicles of the type described have a harness line on each side of the sail, one attached to each half of the wishbone configured boom. The sailor must necessarily disengage the harness hook from line when changing sides of the wind, whether by tacking or jibing, and thereafter re-engage the hook with line on the other side of the sail. During these transitions and in particular during jibes performed under severe conditions, the unoccupied harness lines swing freely interfering with the sailor and can swing with such force as to impact the sailor. Elorza, U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,216, illustrates a harness line held upright by an elastic member. The line is thereby held out of harms way during transitions but is awkwardly positioned and requires manual manipulation for re-engagement. A second object of the present invention is to provide a line held rigid and positioned so that, while unoccupied during maneuvers, it will neither hit nor otherwise interfere with the sailor.
A further characteristic of harness line apparatus is that their size and their positioning relative to the sail must be varied according to the sailor's size and strength, the size of board, mast and sail, and the prevailing sailing conditions. To this end many existing harness lines are adjustable both in terms of the length of available line and the placement of the line along the boom. McCoy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,295, discloses a harness line designed to be releasable for adjusting its placement along the boom. Taylor, U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,591, discloses a harness line which includes a pull down strap to vary the length, and therefore size, of the harness line. It is a further object of this invention to provide additional novel mechanisms for adjusting the length of the harness line and for adjusting the line's position longitudinally along the boom.